Oxycodone's Deathly Issue (Top voted first)

I've been using Oxycodone for five years for pain management. I read about all the deaths that were associated with this drug which were being attributed to intentional over medications by patients in order to get high. I discovered by pure accident that there appears to be a major flaw in this pill's ability to consistently breakdown in the human system like it is intended to do, especially in the time release tablet. As the pill fails to breakdown and release it's medication, they begin to build up dangerous levels within the upper gastrointestinal track. They eventually do release into your system, but not when you planned for it, and sometimes many stored pills open at one time and dump into your system all at once. It could look like an intentional overdose to those who don't know about this issue. Has anyone else noticed that sometimes they feel like they never even took their pain pill? Or has anyone else noticed that every once in a while they seem to get super loaded for no known cause every once in a while? I discovered this issue when I went in for a colon test and after six hours of cleaning out my whole system, I began to notice at the very end that about fifteen oxycodone pills, fully intact, began to pass through my system from the upper gastrointestinal tract. The actual test showed that there were still five more left in my upper gastrointestinal tract. Nothing else in my whole system but those pills stuck inside me. I tried to inform the manufacture, but they did not want to hear what I had discovered. Meanwhile, they continue to blame all deaths related to Oxycodone to addicts who purposely took too many pills to get high. User's beware. I like to hear from anyone else who have noticed some of the oddities I've mentioned about this drug, especially if they have a reason to believe they too had a pill build up.

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I forgot to mention that I discovered this deadly issue with the breakdown of Oxycodone four years ago. Maybe the manufactures have fixed this delivery system problem since then. Has the death rates attributed to this drug dropped since a few years ago? I still am concerned, since someone else mentioned they saw a full pill that passed through their system as recently as an October entry on this page.

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oops! i almost forgot to mention, as u stated ginny, about the GI issues? I also have h plori infection,so i don't know if that has any signifiance in how this drugh affects me differently from time to time. i just wanted to add this info, because when reading your post, what you stated about your stomach problems, etc....maybe somehow related to my own symptoms....

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A full pill passing through someone's system DOES NOT mean it hasn't released the active medication.

There are many pills that release the active medication with the outer shell remaining intact. That shell is empty and is not meant to dissolve in your body, it is meant to be naturally expelled.

If you read the documentation from the manufacturer of the pills you are taking, you will see a warning on there about just this very thing.

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Verwon,
I just realized today that you are responding to many postings related to a variety of drugs. Are you working for the drug manufactures? Why would you know so much and seem to always have answers that explain away a users issues.

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Oh, and Ginny, I will try your experiment with four or five of the original brand OxyContin. Is oxycodone itself water-soluble? I don't know. But I will do that and report back on my findings for you.

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Since I've gone off the main topic twice now, here is my third diversion. I have too many health issues, and too much pain that mess with my daily life. However, there is one thing that I've found that always makes me feel better. Five years ago I bought a small house that sits on the shores of a San Fransisco Bay inlet. Everyday I can sit here at my computer, when I hurt, and watch the incredible life of shore birds which live, hunt and migrate beyond my windows. Too bad they can't make a pill like that for everyone who is hurting and ill. Right now I'm watching a Night Heron and a Great White Heron cleaning their feathers on my boat dock while about four canvas back ducks hunt for food in the water nearby. Smooth thoughts for all in pain today.

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I began this thread on Oxycontin over a year ago expressing my concerns over the pill's release mechanism. At that time I had been on the pill for five years. Today I have been off Oxycontin for two months. I decided to do this at home and on my own accord. I still take Norco for pain. The daily dosage I was on was so strong that I felt like a street junkie. I felt like I had lost a major part of my personality and had no motivation. I was also growing concerned over a growing issue with my memory and I'm way too young for that to happen. The following is what I've gone through and the changes I've seen in me since I quit. First is that I slept for almost a month without any desire to do anything. The second is that I immediately noticed my memory was returning. The third is that I've had diarrhea ever since I got off the drug. The forth is that my pain level has decreased by 50%! Yes, I said 50%. I use to have sever body spasms which were getting worse and worse each year. I was told it was caused by my degenerative disk disease. Not true! It was caused by the Oxycontin. The spasms have returned to the level they were at six years ago. Getting off this medication has proven to me that this pain medication is something everyone should think twice about before accepting a script for it. I don't care what your Doctor tells you, or what you tell yourself, you will end up becoming a controlled addict and it will mess up your life, personality, memory and body. It is a bitch to get off of as well. I will end with the last line of my first posting; Buyer Beware! My advice now is to get off it while you still can.

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I have been w/pain meds for two years now,and I noticed that every morning when I wake up, the pain in joints knees are the most painfull. I have gout severe arthtritis and discs problems and Lately I noticed that this oxycontin may be the ones causing the pain.you are so medicated the whole day,that even natural and little pain are intensified when you are off it. I would like to learn how to get off this drug especially after hearing that this pill may have caused Michael Jacksons problem.

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I've noticed a few new discussions about Oxycontin since I last posted about my withdrawal experiences after going cold turkey in mid January 09. I've now been off this drug for five and a half months. When I began my self detox., I was using 150-mg. daily. I had begun using this drug in 2001 in small daily dosages. I can't say that it has been easy. Physically I have seen that this drug increased and caused serious physical pain issues that immediately went away when I stopped using it. The mental addiction is much much more powerful than the physical one. The longer you use this mind numbing pill, the harder it will be to return to life without it. Don't think you can't get off this drug because you can. It sounds to me like you two who posted this month are where I was at when I decided to just do it. I don't think I could have detoxed without my continued use of breakthrough narcotics that I had been using with the Oxycontin. Since I withdrew from this drug, I've reduced the use of four other prescribed drugs by three forth of their original dosages. I am now trying to reduce my daily intake of Narco, the last of my narcotic prescriptions. I'm having a heck of a time with this drug. I do know now that the mental dependency is a much bigger issue than the physical dependency. I don't recommend going cold turkey unless you also have other opiates that you can use when you cut off the Oxy. Once you successfully get off of the Oxy., you will see how much it really has messed up your body and mind and start trying to reduce the others as well. I wish you all well and hope that you will realize that there is no time that is better than right now when your mind is desiring to get off it. You can do this. Just realize that what took years getting into, will take much more than a week or two to get out of. Good Luck.

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I am now into my seventh month of detoxifying from Oxycontin, in addition to reducing five other pain medications by 75% each.
Hear is the good news:
I've only had two episodes which made me desire an Oxycontin High throughout all these months. Both incidents occurred while I was going through emotional pain, not physical pain. I immediately recognized that my use of pain pills over many, many years had created a broader use for them beyond pain.
This has forced me to re-evaluate my liberal minded, PILLS are HELPFUL policy.
I threw out my old way of thinking, and replaced it with a structured and semi-objective list of questions which have helped me evaluate, reduce and cut some medications completely off my long list. I now ask and respond to the following questions before I allow myself to take a pill for pain:

WHERE: Where is the origin of my pain right now?

WHEN: When did it start? When did I last take a pill for this? Does this pain have an hourly pattern? When does this pain surface the most? When did I last try alternative methods to reduce this pain? When did I start taking this pill, and for what? When did the dosage or amount of pills become so large?

WHY: Am I experiencing this pain? Why do I think I need, or want, a pain pill? Why don't I wait X more hours before I take a pill for this..

WHAT: What other methods and treatments can I use to reduce my pain other than taking a pill? What physical treatments and exercises can I do to help my body over this hump? What is my mental state of mind? What is my short and long term goal to reduce this pill or stop using it? What rules and regulations must I follow hourly and daily in order to reach my goals? What did I accomplish today towards achieving my goals? What are the negative effects of this drug on me?

These questions have led me down a new path which helped me stop Oxycontin overnight and reduce five other pain meds by 75% in less than three months. I'm still working on reducing, slashing and cutting pills from my daily life. Hope this helps someone, it sure has helped me.

HOW: How long should I attempt to reduce my pain before I feel I have a valid need for a pill. How is this pill going to change my behavior immediately, tomorrow and each day after. How does this pill effect my physical and mental abilities? How has this pill contributed to my counter productive behavior and state of mind? How can I view my pain and revaluate it's normalcy considering the circumstances and my bodies condition. or
unbearable, short term, long term, a body warning, avoidable, emotional state

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ginny,
Thanks for sharing your info about the pain med. I have some info that I hope will help you. I can't take any anti-inflammatories of any kind,NO Aleve,motrin,advil,asprin they all cause me major problems. I took one motrin and ended up in the hospital with a GI bleed. I have several reasons that cause me to be in pain all the time. I was prescribed oxycontin over a period of 3 years. During that time the doctor just kept increasing the dosage because it seemed to lose its benefits. It has a coating that is supposed to allow it to be time released. I can't give you info on how long its supposed to take to release. I would try reading the full and lengthy RX info that is provided with the med. You can look it up online or get one from a pharmacist. I can tell you that I noticed similar occurances as you with regard to the pills not working all the time, sometimes it was like I didn't even take them. I would end up going insane with pain. Sometimes they seemed to build up in my system and release more than usual. That wasn't good either because I would feel so sleepy if I sat down, and totally hyper if I kept going. Also, I used to see them floating in the toilet without the green coating, but mostly the whole pill. Sometimes they came through with the green outer coating. They weren't capsules so I don't think that its possible that it was dissolved on the inside like the other person commented. I have never heard of ghost pills so I can't comment on that. When I mentioned to my doctor that the pills were coming out whole he said I was the first person to mention this to him. Several months later he stated that he had other patients confirm to him that they also passed whole pills. I was taking a very high dose of the oxycontin. I think it didn't work for me because they weren't absorbing the way they were supposed to. I know that these meds cause constipation, slowing down the intestinal tract would slow down the metabollism too. I gained 45 lbs while I was taking the oxycontin. I think the pills are supposed to be absorbed in the stomach and not the intestine but could be wrong on that point. Maybe they absorb in both along the way. While taking the oxycontin I used to sleep walk,sleep eat, and had sleep apnea. I even fell asleep driving, it was scarey. The most frustrating part was that I was still in pain. I could have died or killed someone if I were still taking the oxycontin. If I were you I would try to find something else that works for you. I stopped taking the oxycontin and it was difficult because my body was so used to it. But it was SO worth it in the long run. After the oxycontin I went to using a fentanyl patch in combo with percocet. My lliver didn't like the tylenol in the percocet so now I take it without the tylenol. Its oxycodone. Its not a time released pill. Its much,much lower dose than the oxycontin was. It might be helpful for you to try the fentanyl in combo with another type of pain med. The change in dosage might get rid of the side afects and might end up working better for you. Don't give up trying. Being in chronic pain is hard on your body too. Don't forget the alternative medicine options. Yoga,massage, acupuncture etc. can make traditional medicine and its medications work more effectively. I have learned there is a place for both when it comes to taking care of yourself. Peace to you.

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Ginny,
As there are several different manufacturers of this medication - do you know which pills do not break down? I mean from which manufacturer, what dose and what color pill. Thanks.

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Verwon seems to be a coordinator or a monitor of some type. He also cruz's thru unanswered questions and replys to them !
**********HE'S EVERYWHERE **********

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Johnny,

I wish I could remember the manufacture of the pills I was using at that time. I do remember that all the talk about the many deaths attributed to intentional overdosing was not narrowing it down to one type of pill of Oxycontin. I do know that four years later I don't seem to be having nearly as much problems with this medication as I did back then. However, I still go through the fairly routine issue of feeling as though I did not take a pill at all. Recently, I demanded that I only get the brand name and that problem has disappeared.

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This is the first time I ave heard of such an isue. The reason that OxyContin is so expensive is the revolutionary time-release mechanism. You must be talking about som sort of generic version, which are not available in the UK where I live, because our patents last far longer than those in the US. No generic Oxycodone will be on the UK market until 2016.

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I was put on Oxycontin 10mg to start with last year and later the dosage was increased to 15mg. I did not pass any full capsules, at least not that I noticed. I was on Oxycontin for about four months and could not sleep although I was tired all the time and could not keep my eyes open. I could also not drive because I was flying high all the time and my concentration was down to zero.

Unlike others instead of being constipated I had to visit the toilet 2-3 times a day and since I stopped taking Oxycontin I am constipated again.

Although I was on a low dosage it got so bad in the end that I asked my GP to take me off these pills and give me something else. I am now on Durogesic Dtrans pathces. The only problem I have with these patches is that I wake up nearly every night scared of something, don't have a clue what. But one of the side effects of these patches is given as hallucinations, maybe that's what it is.

BTW, the Oxycontin I was supplied with were from Napp in Cambridge, are these the real deal or generic version?

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i was diagnosed with hep c in 2000, and underwent 2 spinal surgeries, one in 2001, and the second in 2006. I was prescribed oxycontin post operatively for both surgeries, but over the course of several years, i found that due to the extensive damage to my liver, my body was unable to metabolize the medication in a timely manner, however, i still take oxycodone 5mg yellow and white capsules, which seem to help relieve my lower back pain, but i too have experienced how some days 1 5mg dose,takes longer to feel, then on other days, it hits me within 15-20 min. usually after i have had my morning coffee. sometimes i get so sedated, that i consume large amounts of caffeine (coffee, soda, tea, etc....) in an attempt to balance it out. it is reassuring to know that i am not the only one who has experienced these effects. thanx so much for your post

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And I was told that the time-release system was absolutely state of the art; the most perfect ever devised. I refer of course to original brand-name, which is all we can get in UK due to patent law, no generics will be allowed until 2016. No, I haven't noticed any difference between one pill or another, ever, and I have been prescribed OxyContin for quite some time now, 40mg b.d. I find them very smooth and regular in their effect compared to other m/r analgesics like DHC 60mg and MST Continus 30 and 60mg. Now the MST, though made by the same company, yes, I HAVE noticed differences in effect, maybe due to so much more morphine being released at the one time; I can be fairly certain that's the cause because in general without an anti-emetic, morphine makes me sick, and on those occasions when I felt as though i had taken more morphine than usual, i sure felt sick. Cyclimorph is OK, containing as it does, 30mg cyclizine per dose, like Diconal (dipipanone) which is not an m/r or s/r drug, but certainly the cyclizine prevents any sickness.

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NAPP are the patent-holder and the original brand-name manufacturer of OxyContin and OxyNorm. Also of MST Continus (known in the USA as MS Contin). So what you are getting is the original branded drug.

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I should have said, that was in reply to Eric, who was wondering about NAPP Pharmaceuticals. Yes, they are the makers of the original brand-name OxyContin.

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